Champions League Thread (the dawn of time - 2014)

[MasterBlaster76]

Also on the United. Very happy for Welbeck. Think he gets a lot of unfair stick at times. But his versatility & sacrifice to the team to do a job in a unaccustomed left-wing role is very under-appreciated. SAF values this & this goal is just reward.

Phil Jones had a breakthrough european night similar to Wilshire vs Barca two years ago @ the new-camp. England potentially have found its new Hargreaves & Paul Ince here. Hodgson should abandon the idea of him going to the Under 21 tournament this year & find a way to integrate him into the senior squad.

Think United surely must go through now. I always thought they would leave Madrid with a positive result. Fact is only Munich & Barca have been playing as good football in Europe this season as United (Juve also in the mix).

Madrid have slipped up this season too often, so i expect the better form of United to aid them in the second leg.

Let's hope.

Welbeck really impressed me - that run he made at the Real defence was fantastic and deserved a goal. Phil Jones was immense as well - maybe another brilliant bit of business by SAF.

 

[puddleduck]

I think Wellbeck will be class. No one scores a goal like he did on his debut without going on to be quality. He's not there yet, but with how hard he works, he will.

 

[Lee1981]

You don't move supposedly better players out of position to do a job, you leave them to go cause problems, asking a forward to defend is crazy,

As a forward being asked to mark someone is asking for trouble, after spending your career trying to lose your marker and then asking them to start picking up doesn't bode well

Any top class striker stays up top simple as, seems SAF is trying to find a way to fit Rooney in the team, it was only a couple of years ago Rooney was scoring plenty in the prem, if he was still up to it surely you would stick him up top with RVP and leave him their.

 

[puddleduck]

Or he feels Rooney, even as a midfielder offers more than other options who are naturally midfielders?

He's certainly never going to be the "white Pele" he was once labelled as, but to suggest he's past it is a little reactionary. He's still one of England's best options as an out and out striker, and he'll still score 15-20 goals a season at Utd. His agent did however do a mighty fine job of tying him into a 200,000 a week contract before it became evident he was never going to be a player worth that much

 

[Epic]

You don't move supposedly better players out of position to do a job, you leave them to go cause problems, asking a forward to defend is crazy,

As a forward being asked to mark someone is asking for trouble, after spending your career trying to lose your marker and then asking them to start picking up doesn't bode well

Any top class striker stays up top simple as, seems SAF is trying to find a way to fit Rooney in the team, it was only a couple of years ago Rooney was scoring plenty in the prem, if he was still up to it surely you would stick him up top with RVP and leave him their.

So that's what it's come to huh, the one City fan has to defend the United player, fine, I'll kerplucking do it.

Robin Van Persie: 2011-2012

Wayne Rooney: 2011-2012

That's a better goals to games ratio than the great Robin van Persie.

Moving along...

Wayne Rooney: 2012-2013(so far)

Sergio Aguero: 2012-2013(so far)

Haven't seen a single person tell me that Aguero's best is beyond him, because it's not. Matter of fact, people still have him in their Top 5 when it comes to strikers.

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Oh btw, you might think I've set up the Aguero comparison for the sole purpose of defending Rooney, but that's not the case at all. Both the guys have had a bit of a stop/start season and it's only fair we compare equals.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

You don't move supposedly better players out of position to do a job, you leave them to go cause problems, asking a forward to defend is crazy,

As a forward being asked to mark someone is asking for trouble, after spending your career trying to lose your marker and then asking them to start picking up doesn't bode well

Any top class striker stays up top simple as, seems SAF is trying to find a way to fit Rooney in the team, it was only a couple of years ago Rooney was scoring plenty in the prem, if he was still up to it surely you would stick him up top with RVP and leave him their.

Rooney has been scoring quite a few goals in the Premiership/Cups recently.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Well, that's Arsenal out then. Can't see 'em pulling back a 3-1 deficit in Germany.

 

[War]

Can't help but feel sorry for Wenger now, even if some of Arsenal's decline is his fault to be fair The idiots in the british media will be all after him now.

Hopefully too presuming they qualify, i hope none of United, Barca, Juventus & Munich don't clash before the semi-finals.

 

[barmyarmy]

Basic problem is that the defences in the EPL have been lousy for 2 or 3 seasons now. Bayern hadn't conceded a goal for 600 mins or something before this game and only conceded because of an error.
I also very much doubt Man U will beat Real.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Basic problem is that the defences in the EPL have been lousy for 2 or 3 seasons now. Bayern hadn't conceded a goal for 600 mins or something before this game and only conceded because of an error.
I also very much doubt Man U will beat Real.

We demonstrated that we can get at Real on their own patch, and they have not been travelling well this season, whereas our home form has been rock solid this season. Remember, if RvP had his shooting boots on, we would've been out of sight in the tie - I doubt he'll have two off nights in Europe in a row. Either way, it'll be a tense old game, but I am confident because of the away goal: we won't have a situation where the lack of an away goal comes back to bite us.

You're right about defences in the Premiership though, it's a worrying trend.

 

[Haarithan]

That to me was one of the best performances for an away side in a long while. Absolutely world class from Bayern. How the hell did they lose 3-1 at BATE Borisov in the group stages?!

 

[War]

If its just judging on the basis of form, you would have to give United the edge for the second leg, unless they have a major set of injuries to a key set of players.

Madrid are 3rd in la liga this season for a reason.

 

[shravi]

Jesus, how hard is it to read? El ShaaRaWy!

 

[puddleduck]

Who's RW?

 

[puddleduck]

Both AC Milan and Juventus showing how to defend against two completely different propositions.